India-France to Launch Global Solar Alliance

Paris: French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch an international solar alliance aimed at eventually bringing clean and affordable solar energy within the reach of all.

The launch will coincide with a summit of world leaders at the start of two weeks of talks on the outskirts of Paris to seek a new global deal on curbing climate change, by shifting from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.

Over 100 solar-rich countries in the tropics that could be members of the International Solar Alliance to develop clean and affordable solar energy.

India’s national plan focuses on solar with aim to reach capacity of 100 gigawatts by 2022. The alliance brings together sun-rich nations for a research and collaboration initiative that has the potential to change the face of future energy access. It will be a platform to benchmark low-cost solar solutions and will provide unique investment opportunity for the developing world.

The initiative places India in a more assertive and constructive position on the international stage, no longer merely accepting the politics of climate change, but now shaping them via its diplomatic and geopolitical influence.

India can reflect the spirit of this initiative via its negotiations and seek committed funding for renewable energy, which would attract more investment than coal by 2019. A global climate agreement is crucial to ensure that the solar alliance delivers and provides certainty to investors on renewables, thereby lowering the risk and reducing the cost of capital.